photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Zane Jacob Baugh

A Kansas City man was sentenced to three years of probation on Tuesday in Douglas County District Court for an aggravated battery conviction that was originally charged as a rape.

The man, Zane J. Baugh, 26, of Kansas City, Missouri, was charged in March 2022 with one count of raping a 21-year-old in September 2019 in Baldwin City. In August, he pleaded no contest to the lesser crime of felony aggravated battery, with no sexual component, as the Journal-World reported.

Because there was no sexual component to the crime Baugh was actually convicted of, he will not be required to register as a sex offender.

The aggravated battery conviction is a high-level felony that required a prison sentence regardless of Baugh’s criminal history without a compelling reason for a judge to depart, but as part of his plea agreement with the state, Baugh’s attorney, John DeMarco, was allowed to file for a dispositional departure asking the court to grant Baugh probation.

In DeMarco’s motion, he argued that Baugh’s sex-offender evaluation showed that Baugh has a low probability to reoffend; he said that Baugh has an “impressive” work history as an IT professional working with medical records software, and he has a stable family life.

Judge Sally Pokorny granted the departure and sentenced Baugh to 41 months in prison, which she then suspended to 36 months, or three years, of probation.

Baugh has been free on a $25,000 surety bond since shortly after his arrest in March of 2022.

According to the affidavit in support of Baugh’s arrest, the woman told police that she was drinking at a party at Baugh’s apartment, and after other guests left she told Baugh she needed to go to sleep. Baugh offered to let her sleep in his bed, where she said he began to have sex with her without her consent. She repeatedly told Baugh “no” and to “get off” of her, according to the affidavit, and finally was able to push Baugh away after six to 10 minutes.